This story narrates how a family of Gowda Saraswath Brahmans (GSBs) managed with their lives, amid greenery, ample rain, warm and pleasant weather and fertile land of Kannanur, Malabar district, on the west coast of India, with their tremendous physical and mental agility to tackle poverty, diseases, superstition and limited avenues for their livelihood. The town of Kannanur was ruled by local kings who were often the surrogates of powerful emperors of south India. Only the high-rising... More Description

This story narrates how a family of Gowda Saraswath Brahmans (GSBs) managed with their lives, amid greenery, ample rain, warm and pleasant weather and fertile land of Kannanur, Malabar district, on the west coast of India, with their tremendous physical and mental agility to tackle poverty, diseases, superstition and limited avenues for their livelihood. The town of Kannanur was ruled by local kings who were often the surrogates of powerful emperors of south India. Only the high-rising mountains and large and wide rivers formed the boundaries of different kingdoms in south India before the reorganization of the states on linguistic basis in 1954, and not the predominance of either a religion or a language. Kannanur was predominantly populated by Malayalam-speakers but Tulu-speakers, Konkanis and Kannadigas were in substantial numbers in and around north Malabar. The (GSBs) were Konkani-speakers but studied Malayalam or Kannada in the schools. The concentration of (GSBs) rapidly increased following the take-over of administration of Goa by the Portuguese in 1510. When Britain signed the 1784 Mangalore Treaty with Tipu Sultan, Kannanur which was held by Tipu came under the East India Company. The British spelt Kannanur as Cannanore (pronounced as Cann'nore.) The Kerala state government and the Cannanore district administration began to spell the name as Kannur. I have called it Kannanur to signify that this work is a work of fiction.